Learn more about Mints

Of course, for us Netflix users, the most famous Mint in the world is now the Madrid Mint because of the award-winning series Casa De Papel ….a mint where a group of robbers take “money heist” to a whole new level! But in real life, the Royal Mint of Spain is certainly not the most iconic of Mints. Let’s dig a little deeper into some of the other ones that we at StoneX Bullion work with!

The Royal Canadian Mint

Responsible for the production, and distribution of all of Canada’s circulation coins, The Royal Canadian Mint’s headquarters occupy a historic building in the center of Ottawa and was founded in 1908. It originally started out as a branch of the Royal Mint in London. The London Mint was the primary producer of the Canadian coinage but over the years, Canada saw their need for coinage rise and London authorized a branch of the Royal Mint to be built in Ottawa in 1901( inaugurated in 1908 ).

Since then, it has been responsible for all the production and distribution of Canada’s coinage and its enormous minting capacity also allows it to produce foreign circulation, numismatic, and bullion coins for international consumers.

Although the Royal Canadian Mint is not actually funded by the Canadian Government, recent legislative change in 2014 meant the Canadian circulation program is being run on a non-profit basis. The other areas of the business, such as Bullion products, are still run for-profit business purposes.

The Canadian Maple Leaf gold and silver bullion coins ( 1 oz Maple Leaf Gold Coin ) which are produced by the Canadian Mint are truly iconic and are the biggest selling bullion coins in the world. They are, of course, available to purchase on Coininvest. In 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint produced the world’s largest gold coin, a 100 kg, 99.999% pure gold $1 million coin entering it into the book of Guinness World Records.

Interesting fact: the Royal Canadian Mint employs more than 700 people in the design, production, and marketing of their coins and is known for being a fantastic employer. It has been featured in Canada's Top 100 Employers’ list for 4 years in a row!

The Perth Mint

Let’s cross over to the Southern Hemisphere with the Perth Mint. Not only does it have amazing skills from its long and respected history, but their successful modernisation allows the production of outstanding coins. Founded in 1899, the Perth Mint has more than 100 years of minting excellence and features significantly in the history of Western Australia.

Established on 20th june 1899, the Perth Mint was the last of the three Australian colonial branches of the United Kingdom’s Royal Mint intended to refine gold from the gold rushes and to mine gold sovereigns for the British Empire. Western Australia’s first Premier Sir John Forrest is regarded as the founding father and he successfully lobbied the British government to establish a branch of the Royal Mint in Perth.

One of the most interesting series produced by the Perth Mint and available on StoneX Bullion is the Lunar series ( 1/2 oz Lunar III Dragon Gold Coin ) inspired by the Chinese Lunar calendar and its 12 animals. Each year, a specific animal is portrayed, in correlation with the year on the Chinese Calendar and the coins are particularly beautiful. We, at Coininvest, are always proud to present these coins to our customers.

Interesting fact: the original building was designed by George Temple Poole and is one of Perth’s most impressive colonial-era monuments and was the first to be entered on the State’s heritage register. It is the oldest mint in the world operating from its original premises.

Rand Refinery

Another major partner of StoneX Bullion is the Rand Refinery. And let’s not forget that the Rand Refinery is probably the most famous in the world given that since 1921, the date of its opening, it has refined over 50 000 tonnes of gold (nearly 30% of all the gold that has ever been mined!!). The Rand Refinery is owned by five large South African gold mining companies, Anglogold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony, Sibanye Gold and DRDGOLD, all members of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa.

Prior to 1920, all gold mined from locations in South Africa was transported to the United Kingdom for refining. By establishing the Rand Refinery in 1920, the Chamber of Mines and South Africa decided to take over greater control of its gold supply chain. The refinery is located in Germiston, just outside Johannesburg and this location was chosen originally because it was within the legendary Witwatersrand gold mining district and it offered good railway facilities.There is also a branch in Pretoria in the North now called the South African Mint. Both sites jointly produce the famous gold bullion Krugerrand ( 1 oz Krugerrand Gold Coin ) South Africa’s flagship gold bullion coin. Since the birth of the Krugerrand bullion program, over 60 million Krugerrands of all denominations have been fabricated. Most of them are presented on our website and available for purchase on Coininvest.

Interesting fact: The Rand Refinery is a full member of the London Bullion Market Association ( LBMA ), and its gold bars have been accredited as good delivery for the London gold market since 1921. ( It is the only refinery in Africa to be accredited ). Since 2004, it is also one of only five members of the Good delivery referee panel of the LBMA ( which monitors refining standards across the globe )

The US Mint

This mint is also worth a mention as it is one of the major ones in operation. On the 2nd April 1792, the US Congress passed the Coinage Act and established the first national mint in the United States. The Congress then chose Philadelphia, the then nation’s capital, as the site of the first US Mint. The President George Washington appointed a leading scientist David Rittenhouse as the first director. He bought two lots to build a three-story facility-the tallest building in Philadelphia at the time. And the rest is history as we say and since then, there have been 8 different US Mint locations manufacturing outstanding products, (North Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, California, and New York) . Today, the Mint maintains production facilities in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver and West Point and a bullion depository in Fort Knox.

The US Mint began its coin production with the half cent and cent coin in copper, the half dime and dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar in silver and the quarter eagle, half eagle and eagle in gold. Today the most popular coin is still the American Eagle available on StoneX Bullion in gold silver and platinum variants ( 1 oz American Eagle Gold Coin ) The United States Mint releases the series annually to the delight of investors and coin collectors alike. It is also worth mentioning the other popular coin: the American Buffalo Gold Coins first introduced in 2006 with the obverse of the coin featuring the famous Indian Head design (an amalgam of the images of three native American Chieftains).

Interesting facts: Believe or not, the first federally funded building wasn’t the White House, nor the Capital Building, it was the United States Mint. It was also the first federal agency to employ women ( as adjusters ) at the start in 1795.

The Royal Mint

And of course we could not end this article without mentioning the Mighty Mint, mother of all Mints: The Royal Mint! The Royal Mint produces a staggering 5 billion coins every 12 months and is one of the biggest partners for Coininvest. The roots date back to the second century BC when coins were first struck for circulation in Britain. At first, the minting was managed locally but by the 13th century, the need of having a central place to issue the coins grew and it was decided that the central place of minting would be the Tower of London. Years of operation followed until 1966, when the British government announced its plans to decimalise the nation’s currency. This meant the minting of millions of new coins and the current site of Tower Hill became quickly unsuitable. After many years of debate, the government decided on the location of the new mint in Llantrisant, Wales, and the first phase of the mint was formally opened by the Queen in 1968. It still operates in Llantrisant to this day.

The Royal Mint brand is recognised around the world and has a proud heritage. It is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of coins and has produced some amazing pieces starting with the ( Sovereign Elizabeth II Gold Coin | 2022 ) or the ( 1/4 oz Britannia Charles III Gold Coin ) which you can acquire on Coininvest.

Interesting fact: Believe it or not, there are some countries who get their coins imported from the British Mint – and who wish to keep such imports a secret. But we won’t spill the beans!

So now that you are “au-fait” of the assets, strengths and history of the main Mints we are working with, I am sure you will agree that we can trust these establishments to produce beautiful coins and bullions for more years to come. And luckily, there is a lot less going on than in the Madrid Mint of the Casa De Papel!